Truth, Justice and the Gallifreyan Way
by OTR Barcelona
Summary: There is a new teacher at Smallville High! He calls himself Dr John Smith, speaks with a British accent and wears a bowtie. But when Clark finds out why the new teacher has come, his world literally begins to fall apart.
1. Chapter 1

**Truth Justice and the Gallifreyan Way**

**or**

**I Wear a Cape Now, Capes are Cool**

Field after field streaked past him like they weren't really there. Sounds of cars and chattering people all blurred into one, creating a strange Doppler ringing in his ears. And every time he focused on a face in the town for just a moment, part of him just couldn't believe that he was moving so fast they couldn't see him. He was due to turn eighteen in less than a week. As he got close to his school, a stray thought flew through his mind; eighteen years old, and nothing, absolutely nothing I can't do.

Reality began to seep back in as he came to an abrupt stop behind the bikesheds. He'd worked out that this was the best place to come out of superspeed. Even when he arrived late for school, there were still people about. He looked at his watch. Home to school in thirteen seconds. And he wasn't even trying.

"Hey, Clark, you're late!" Clark spun around to see Pete standing behind him. He kicked himself for not having noticed anything earlier, and then he realised just how lucky he was; the one person who saw him was the one person he could trust. Pete walked over to his friend and patted him on the shoulder. "You're late for class".

"I overslept".

"What happened? Anything you want to talk about?"

Clark let out a sigh as the two of them walked toward the school. "Just had a lot on my mind lately".

"No crime against that, pal. I guess superheroes are allowed to have lots on their mind". The two of them meandered through the school corridors to their first period class: history. Clark couldn't help thinking that the brisk walk with Pete to his classroom took several times longer than his journey to school. But after recent events, taking it slow was just what he wanted. And nothing was slower than Mrs Roberts' history classes. But as Pete opened the door, the chubby red face of Mrs Roberts wasn't what greeted them. Instead, their class was listening to a young man, perhaps in his mid twenties, wearing a beige jacket, dark trousers and a bowtie. But the strangest thing about him was his hair. It covered his head like a black mop, and even obscured some of his face. As the door opened, the two boys didn't have any time to stifle an apology before stranger shot them an almost unearthly smile, and spoke with a British accent. "And you must be Pete Ross and Clark Kent".

Pete took point. "Where's Mrs Roberts?"

"Ill at home or won the lottery. Something like that. I'm your new history teacher. Doctor John Smith". The two boys looked at each other and started to walk to their regular seats. But the teacher motioned to Clark to stop. Again the unearthly smile. "Clark Kent. You know, I've heard so much about you".

Clark was confused. "About me?"

"Of course. Kansas farm boy. Coolest farm boy in Kansas. And a name that sounds like a racehorse". Clark raised an eyebrow. "Can I sit down now, sir?"

Realising he'd been lost in thought, Dr Smith nodded. "Yes, of course. Sorry".

He smiled at Chloe as he walked past her to his seat next to Pete. She was clearly as bemused as he was by this new teacher, who began to pick up where he had presumably left off. He opened a textbook about Christopher Columbus' voyage to the New World, and flicked through all the pages. As he did, he mumbled. "That's not right". Chloe shot Clark another confused grin as the teacher began to address the class. "So, according to your textbook, Christopher Columbus discovered America". He paused briefly. "This is not true, and I would really like to have a word with the person who wrote the textbook". Another pause. "If he wasn't dead". He cleared his throat. "It was actually a man named Leif Erikson, a Viking, who discovered America". He looked up at one of the boys who had his hand up. "Yes?"

"Didn't they name a phone after him?" Some of the students giggled. "And what's your name?" asked the teacher. The boy proudly told him who he was. "Jason Jones the Third".

"Well, Jason Jones the Third, I'd appreciate it if you left all the jokes to me. Now, does anyone know why Leif Erikson decided to travel west?"

Jason put his hand up again. Reluctantly, the teacher nodded to him. "To prove the earth wasn't flat?"

"No!" exclaimed the teacher. "He did it for a bet".

This time, Jason didn't even put his hand up. "Who with?"

"Me of course, Jason Jones the Third. I bet him a fleet of longboats that there wasn't a waterfall at the end of the world. Although he already had a fleet of longboats, so why he took the bet, I don't know". He looked up at the class, and was more than slightly disappointed not to see anyone laughing. He smiled, embarrassed, but he knew things were about to get worse; Jason had his hand up again. "Why do we have to do about Vikings? Can't we do something more exciting?"

"And what do you find exciting, Jason Jones the Third".

Jason took a breath. "Well", he paused for effect, "how about we do the American War of Independence. You know, the one we had with you Brits? And, hmmm, I wonder who won?"

Smith took one step forward. "Jason Jones the Third. If you make one more comment like that, you'll be through that door so fast, you'll believe a man can fly".


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Standing in fields. Is that all my life has become now?

As the hazmat teams went about their daily business in their radiation suits, buzzing around like worker bees, Lex Luthor stood in the centre of the field, seemingly oblivious to it all. He'd always thought his would be a life spent in the concrete canyons of Metropolis, wearing suits, holding high powered meetings in the clouds, and pushing forward the great dreams of human endeavour.

But ever since his father had sent him to lead Luthorcorp's initiatives in Smallville, his dreams had begun to evaporate. It wasn't that his time here had been boring; far from it. He'd seen some things here that he couldn't possibly hope to explain. But standing in the middle of one of the endless fields, with his expensive shoes caked in mud and the constant murmur from pseudo scientist, he was just beginning to give up any hope of the life he'd envisioned.

"Mr Luthor! I think you'll want to see this!" He didn't turn around. He recognised the voice as belonging to Dr Sydney Happerson, one of his father's more irritating token scientists. He took a deep breath, knowing he would have to address the man sooner or later. "I had to postpone a very important meeting for this, Happerson". He chose that minute to turn to face the scientist. "I take my work very seriously, and I don't want to have to tell my father I was standing in a field while an important deal fell through".

Happerson nodded, clearly indifferent to whatever deal it was. "Mr Luthor, trust me. You're going to end up thanking me for this".

Lex raised his eyebrows. "I'd better. So why am I here".

Happerson moved his arms in a circular motion. "It's this field. All around us".

"What about it?"

The scientist smiled, as if he were about to show his royal flush to a rival poker player. "It's radioactive".

His face a mask of annoyed disbelief, Lex fumbled in his pocket for his car keys. "I don't believe you people. You pull me away from my work for _this_?"

Desperation got the better of Happerson. "No, no, no, you don't understand, Mr Luthor. Do you have any idea what caused the radiation?"

"The meteor shower of '89 at a guess. Dr Happerson. I have a busy day in front of me. I really don't have time for this".

Happerson shot Lex another defiant smile. "It wasn't the meteor shower. The radiation signature's all wrong".

Lex paused. "What did you say?"

The scientist held up an electronic display. "It's much stronger. It's coming from something way, way underground. And it's much older too. I think something fell from space onto Smallville way before 1989. In fact, we think whatever it was hit before the European colonisation".

Lex folded his arms. "So what do you think it is?"

Proudly, Happerson beamed from ear to ear. "We don't know. But it's big. As big as a skyscraper. We've had our scanning crews on it with their metal detectors. They've turned up a vast amount of metal, and a radiation signature to dwarf the strongest meteor rock you've ever seen".

Lex closed his eyes for a moment, locked in thought. When they snapped open Happerson seemed to jump. Lex knew he needed to focus. He gave his instructions concisely and sharply. "I want to know exactly what that thing is within twenty-four hours. Tell no one else who doesn't know already. If you turn anything else up, call me straightaway. And if you need anything spare no expense. Luthorcorp will cover it".

"So was I right?" asked Happerson.

"Right about what?"

"Are you going to thank me for this?"

"Remains to be seen, Sydney. I'm a busy man. I have a lot to do".

With that Lex turned around and moved out of the cordoned section of the field. Since arriving in Smallville, he'd learned not to ignore anything that seemed weird. He knew his father would probably have a fit when he saw the bill for this little operation. But that didn't matter; he was filthy rich, and he could afford it. Besides, for all he knew, what the scientists were going to discover may furnish him another piece in Smallville's greatest puzzle; who is Clark Kent?


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Careful on that ladder, Chloe".

"Relax, Clark, I'll be fine".

It was a typical after-school session of Smallville High's most famous newspaper. The office of the Torch was bustling as all its three reporters were busy doing what they did best. Chloe teetered on a step ladder, rearranging some of the magazine and newspaper clippings in her Wall of Weird while Pete was tapping away at the computer. Clark stood between the two of them, ever the watchful guardian.

As Chloe started to come down the ladder, Clark shot her a question. "What were you doing up there, anyway?"

Dismounting the ladder, Chloe turned to face her farm-bred friend. "Oh just rearranging some of the articles, making more space. This is Smallville after all". Clark looked briefly at the wall and shot his friend a warm smile. "Interior design lost a genius, Chloe".

But the intrepid wannabe reporter was no longer interested in her wall. She turned her attentions to her other colleague, and walked over to where he was tapping away on the computer. "So what have you got, Pete?"

"Nothing".

Chloe frowned in frustration. "I suppose 'John Smith' is the name equivalent of crab grass in the English-speaking world".

All three of them had been taken aback by their new history teacher. It wasn't only his accent that made him stick out like a sore thumb. They all agreed that one minute he would act like an overgrown class clown, and then snap back and say something really profound. Chloe had decided that anyone with a PHD who behaved like that would have definitely made it onto the internet, and it only took the short walk from their last class to the newspaper office to convince her two friends. But Pete wasn't having much luck.

"There are over 200 million articles with the name 'John Smith'. And they're all about different people. Look here. Car repairs, gardening. Even one guy calling himself the 'Red Tornado'. But nothing like our history guy".

Clark made a suggestion. "Why not add the word 'British' to your search?"

Pete nodded. "Good thinking, Watson". He tapped the new word into the search engine. "Okay, that's knocked the number of articles down. Here we go. Tony Blair's predecessor as leader of the Labour Party. And another one here about some advisor to the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. But that was in the 70s. Our Dr Smith would only have been a boy then".

Clark was ever the voice of reassurance. "Well keep looking, Pete. Something's bound to turn up".

No sooner were the words out of Clark's mouth than the lights started flickering. Chloe and Clark stared at each other, but before Pete could move, a spark seemed to shoot out of the computer. He fell backwards out of his chair and landed on the floor.

Clark was first to reach his friend. "Pete, are you okay?"

Pete groaned as the lights flickered back on. "I'm okay", he wheezed out. "Think I just got an electric shock".

"But you weren't touching any wires", said Chloe.

Pete blinked. "Yeah, not sure what happened". He sat up. "I feel okay though. I think I just need some air".

He got up and walked to the door. Clark was still clearly concerned for his friend. "Maybe you should go see the nurse. Or I could walk you home".

Pete turned around. "I'm okay, Clark. It takes more than a little electric shock to knock the wind out of me". He turned to walk out of the door, but then suddenly snapped upright, as if he someone had just shouted at him.

"Pete, what's wrong?" asked Chloe.

He thought for a second. "Nothing, I guess". But his voice didn't sound convincing.

Clark folded his arms. "Pete?"

The other boy stuttered as he answered. "Not sure. Just for a second I thought I heard someone shouting in the back of my head". Ever the soul of optimism he immediately changed his expression to a warm grin. "Like I way I probably just need some air". With that he walked out the door leaving his concerned friends behind.

"Lights seem fine now", said Chloe. "What _was_ that?"

"What was what?"

The pair spun around to see Dr John Smith himself beaming away in the doorway.

Clark's whole body seemed to stand to attention. "Dr Smith".

"Mr Kent. And Miss Sullivan". He walked in and looked around. He then looked back at the pair. "So this must be the famous Torch. My all time favourite newspaper".

Chloe smiled from ear to ear. "It is?"

Dr Smith walked toward the Wall of Weird. "Of course it is. It's exciting. I get sick of reading about the economic situation in Brazil or some farming problems in Nicaragua. No, the Torch is a far better read".

Chloe didn't know what to say. "Thanks".

Now the stranger was looking at the wall. "So these are all the strange things that happen in Smallville?" Chloe followed his gaze. "Just a little pet project of mine".

"This is really impressive", said Smith. He ran his gaze over the wall, mumbling some of the things he saw in the pictures. "Crop circles… ice boy… clairvoyant lady". He turned to face Chloe again. "Far more impressive than the high school paper of the same name at that school in Cleveland, Ohio". But then he frowned and turned back to the wall. He pointed toward a photograph. "But what's this one?"

Chloe ran up to him and inspected the picture he was looking at. "I think it's a two-headed calf".

"'Two-headed calf'?" repeated Smith. "That's not a two-headed calf. It's just an Aplan dog that got a bit lost". Chloe's bottom lip started to shake as she tried to think of an explanation. But as it turned out she didn't need to, as the teacher shot right back up to his full height and smiled at her again. "But on the whole, brilliant!"

Her expression quickly changed to a flattered smile. "Why thank-you!"

The stranger went on. "In fact, so brilliant that I think I'll renew my subscription. But first of all, do you mind if I have a quick word with your friend?"

The grin hadn't yet faded from her face. "Of course not".

"In private".

Chloe slowly nodded. She turned around and walked out of the room, saying "bye" to Clark before closing the door behind her.

"Amazing young woman", mumbled Smith. "But it's you I need to talk to, Mr Kent".

Clark folded his arms. "What's wrong, sir?"

Smith took a deep breath. "Mr Kent, have you noticed anything strange today?"

The youth thought back over the last twenty-four hours. "Not really, Dr Smith". He looked up and grinned. "But then, this is Smallville".

Smith nodded. "Right, right. The Town of Weird".

"Well is there anything in particular you're thinking of?"

The teacher raised an index finger. "Yes, yes. Have you seen any robots or cyborgs?"

Clark was clearly taken aback. "Nothing like that, sir".

"Are you sure?"

"I wouldn't lie to you".

"No, no, of course not".

Smith walked up to Clark and took a small metal cylinder from his jacket. He pressed a stud at the end, and a buzzing sound came out of it and a green light at the other end lit up. He switched it off and stared at the end where the light had been. "No, you're right. No robots or cyborgs. The odd meteor rock or two, but no robots and cyborgs". He replaced his device in his jacket. "Which is good".

"Is that all, sir", asked Clark, feeling rather uncomfortable.

The stranger thought for a moment. "Just tell me if you do see anything strange". He picked up a post it note and wrote something on it. "This is my mobile…" he stopped himself in mid sentence, "… my cell number". He handed the piece of paper to Clark and grinned. "You know I may have got away with this one". He walked over to the door and opened it. Just as he was about to go through it, he turned around. "But maybe not". He paused. "So be careful".

With that, he left the room and closed the door behind him, leaving a bemused Clark alone in the Torch offices with only the feint whirring of the computer for company.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Hercules was so strong.

The setting sun cast a dark blue hue throughout the sky that Lana found both eerie and comforting at the same time. As the fresh country air brushed through her hair, soothing her mind, she thought about how aptly she had named this horse.

After the end of a long day, this was often the only solace she got. She found it reassuring that she could have such a normal, mundane thought that didn't dwell on the insanity of her life of the last few years.

Orphaned by rocks falling from the heavens, almost killed by mutated townsfolk on several occasions, and hospitalised many times in the strangest of circumstances. She would have doubted her own memory if her body didn't have feint traces of the scars to prove it.

It was only now, she thought, on cool evenings like this that she could relax.

But tonight that wasn't to be. She couldn't work out what she noticed first. Was it the strange rumbling, or the change in the pace of Hercules' gallop? Just as she was trying to work out what was going on, there was a loud bang, as a shower of dirt erupted in front of her. It took her a full moment to realise that the horse had thrown her to the ground, and was retreating to the stables as fast as it could.

Then the pain. She had landed on her leg. She hadn't broken anything; she'd had so many injuries in the last few years that her brain was relatively used to performing self-diagnostics. She hadn't broken it. But it still hurt.

As she began to focus, she saw three humanoid figures coming out from where the eruption had been. They were so short that at first she thought they were children. Each one of them could only have been five feet tall. But as they came closer, and more into view, she realised that they were wearing dusty metallic armour, covering their entire bodies. What she thought was stranger was that the helmets ran almost from shoulder to shoulder in each figure.

"Where are we? What planet is this?"

Lana realised that the figure at the front was talking to her. It was a grunting voice, and seemed to be in a British accent. She tried to speak, but coughed as she realised she must have breathed in some dirt.

She then noticed another of the figures point some kind of weapon at her. "I won't ask again. Where are we?"

"Smallville", she strained. "Kansas".

The figure aimed the gun directly at her. "Never heard of 'Smallville' or 'Kansas'. What is the name of the planet?"

"Earth", she stifled.

The one with the gun turned to the others. "Earth. Now I remember. That meddlesome Doctor. He marooned us here!"

Another one of them spoke, in what Lana thought was a totally identical voice. "How long were we in stasis?"

The one with the weapon replied. "Millennia most likely. Curse that Timelord!" Somehow Lana knew he was looking at her from behind the helmet. "My rage demands a sacrifice!"

"No!" the figure in the middle jarred his comrade's gun to one side, and what looked like a laser beam blasted a patch of dirt to the left of Lana. He then slowly moved his hands toward his helmet. As he took it off, Lana gasped to see that his huge head ran shoulder to shoulder just like his helmet. It was a hairless head with a face betraying a mean expression. The figure thinned his eyes, regarding Lana as a lion may regard its prey. "This earth female will be our hostage. We will find out as much as we can about where and when we are".

"And then?" came an identical voice from behind one of the helmets.

"And then, for the glory of the Sontaran Empire, we will track down the Doctor to wherever he is hiding, and have our revenge!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Lex sat in his mansion office, sipping a glass of scotch and meditating on the day's events. Three years ago, he thought that the discovery of what seemed to be an alien vessel buried beneath Smallville would be something he would report to his father instantly. But now as his relationship with his father had grown so icy, and weird things had become commonplace in his life, today's discovery just seemed like another drop in the ocean. In fact, if he had to make a list of all the strangest things he had seen in the last three years, this discovery probably wouldn't have even made the top five.

Suddenly his comfortable train of thought was interrupted by a timid knocking at his door. "Sir?"

Lex recognised the voice straightaway. "I'm a little busy, Doctor Happerson. Can this wait?"

The scientist nervously paced the length of the room to Lex's desk. He stuttered as he spoke. "I'm afraid not, Sir. We've run some tests on the signals coming from the ship, and..", he paused and drew breath.

"And what, Doctor?"

"Well, Sir, it seems that the cycle pattern has changed".

"What do you mean?"

Happerson handed some papers in Lex's direction, but the young man simply shook his head. Disappointed, the scientist lowered the papers, realising he would have to formulate a verbal explanation very, very quickly. "Well, Mr Luthor, when we did our preliminary scan of the find, we found that there were certain signals, not unlike radio waves, emanating from it. At first there were large intervals between them, but in the last few hours, those intervals have grown shorter".

"I'll ask again, Doctor, what does this mean?"

"Well, Sir, we're not too sure, but…"

The scientist's explanation was cut short as a tall man in a black suit with walked into the room. "Mr Luthor, you're going to want to see this".

Happerson recognised the new arrival as Jonson, one of Luthorcorp's security directors. The scientist felt dejected as Lex immediately turned his attention to the other man. "What is it, Mr Jonson?"

"Best if I show you, Sir". He dropped a photograph onto Lex's desk. Lex took one look, and seemed to turn white. "When was this taken?"

"Around 2 pm today".

Lex stood up. "Code one. Jonson, evacuate all non-essential personnel and get as many security men from Metropolis here as you can as quickly as possible!"

Happerson couldn't resist the temptation of glancing at the photograph. When he saw what was on it, he felt insulted. Here he was, researching something that would dwarf the meteor shower of 1989, and Mr Luthor seemed far more interested in a photograph of a blue wooden shed.

"But Mr Luthor", he choked, "what's so important about that?"

Lex turned to the scientist. "I'll tell you what's important, Doctor. What's in that photograph is something that people in positions such as mine dread seeing. All over the world, throughout history, that thing has shown up where disasters happen. Pompeii, the Titanic in 1912, Dallas 1963".

"But what is it?"

"Need to know, Dr Happerson. But if I were you, I'd get back to my family".

"Why, are they not safe?"

"As long as that thing's here, none of us are safe".


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

As the sun went down and the shadows lengthened, Jonathan began the short drive back to the farm. He and Clark had loaded the truck with supplies, as they often did. Of course, Clark could have had the supplies set up at the farm in seconds, but there were two very good reasons why Jonathan insisted that they did this the old fashioned way: firstly, people's suspicions would be raised if Clark were to keep going for things alone without his father or the truck. But secondly, and more importantly, as Jonathan believed, it gave him and his son the chance to catch up. After all, since Clark spent most of the day in school, and Jonathan spent most of his on the farm, this was sometimes the only chance they would have to talk like normal fathers and sons. And as Jonathan knew, Clark was anything but normal.

"So tell me more about this Doctor Smith", said Jonathan.

Clark thought for a second. "I think I've told you everything, dad. British, wears a bowtie, has crazy hair, and an even more crazy personality".

"And a deep interest in you, let's not forget that".

Clark shook his head. "Maybe he's just eccentric".

"Sounds a little more than eccentric to me, son. And mentioning robots…"

"I think he was just trying to break the ice".

"But he said this in a private chat with you".

An awkward silence filled the truck as Clark didn't know what to say. After a few moments, Jonathan sighed. "Look, Clark, tomorrow I'll get up early, start my chores, and then we can go and see this Doctor Smith together".

"Dad, don't you think you're overreacting?"

"Son, your mother and I have done so much to keep your secret over the years. I'm not going to let it be exposed by some crazy Brit professor".

"Dad, I'll be careful".

"I know you will, son, but you're only seventeen years old".

"So you don't trust me, is that it?"

Jonathan stopped the truck. "Son, I trust you more than anyone. I cannot put into words how proud your mother and me are. Believe me, you are going to make all the right decisions in your life. I know that. In so many ways you already do. But sometimes you need help".

Clark knew his father was right. As the two continued along the road, Jonathan noticed something next to one of the fields. "What the hell is that?" As they got closer to it, they saw that it was dark blue, and about the size of a phone box. The two looked at each other. Jonathan was about to drive on, when Clark noticed a man stood next to it. "Hey, Dad, it's him. It's Doctor Smith".

Tires screeched on the asphalt as Jonathan applied the brakes. Pulling to the side of the road, Clark and his father got out of the truck.

Doctor Smith turned to them and looked surprised at first. Then, recognising Clark, he pointed at the teenager. "Mr Kent. Clark". He then turned to Clark's father. "And you must be Jonathan. Jonathan Kent. You know, you're my favourite hero".

Clark knew his father was always straight to the point, so he wouldn't like that comment. "And what's that supposed to mean?" snapped Jonathan

Dr Smith Smiled ear to ear. "I know you, Jonathan Kent. I've heard the stories of what a great man you are. So great in fact, that in two hundred years time, on more or less the spot you're standing on right now, there's a statue of you".

"A statue. Of me?"

Smith thought for a minute and frowned. "Actually, no, sorry, my mistake. It's a statue of Lori Lemaris. How did I get you two mixed up?" He looked at Jonathan's feet. "I mean, you have legs, there, see, there they are". He then looked Jonathan in the eye. "I still have legs too. I love my legs".

Jonathan had had enough. He grabbed the man by the shoulder. "Look, Dr Smith, I don't know what the hell your game is, but if you have something to say to me, just say it. Don't give me any more of that stupid double talk".

Dr Smith nodded. "Okay, fair enough. Right. Where to begin?"

Smith cleared his throat to speak, but was interrupted by a beeping sound. He took a phone from his jacket, and answered it. "Pond? Pond what's going on?"

Clark tilted his head to one side and used his super hearing to eavesdrop on the conversation. At the other end of the phone was a woman's voice, also British, maybe from Scotland. But there was so much static and crashing in the background that even Clark could hardly make out what she was saying. He just heard something about a globe falling from a skyscraper and the streets being lined with dead people. Only her last words were clear to him: "Help us, Doctor". No sooner had he heard those words that the phone shot out of Smith's hand. A green glow exuded from the device, growing ever darker and more feint. Then after a few seconds, the glow faded completely and the phone exploded.

Jonathan's mouth fell open. "What the hell was that?"

Dr Smith fell to his knees and examined the remains of the phone.

Now Clark was growing anxious. "Doctor Smith?"

"A paradox. A level 12 paradox".

"And what's that supposed to mean?" demanded Jonathan.

Smith rose to his feet and seemed to look straight into the farmer's soul. Clark thought that the stranger was about to cry, and when he spoke, it was with a soft, trembling voice. "It means, Jonathan Kent, that this world, this beautiful, wonderful world…", he began to trail off.

"What?!" snapped Jonathan.

Doctor Smith regarded the pair. "It means it no longer has a future".


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

The three of them stood in silence, haunted by Dr Smith's last words. A breeze blew through the cornfields as if providing an ominous answer to the announcement.

But ever the practical man, Jonathan wasn't convinced. "What do you mean, our world has no future?"

Dr Smith looked like he may break down and cry any minute. "It means that something has happened. Something that has changed the course of destiny for this planet".

Clark had heard the word 'destiny' more and more over the past few months. "Something like what?"

"I don't know. But whatever it is, it must have started here. First a world without a Superman. Then no world at all".

Jonathan grunted. "What do you mean by that, and what's a 'Superman'?"

But before Dr Smith could answer, an explosion shattered the cool breeze. The three men looked toward the column of smoke where the sound had come from. "That's right in the middle of a housing estate", whispered Jonathan.

Clark was more precise. "Near Pete's house".

Dr Smith turned to the wooden box and rested his head against it. He put his hands over the sides of his face so that he saw absolutely nothing. His voice then echoed off the wood. "Right, I can't see you. I definitely can't see you. If either of you were to do anything amazing, anything super right about now that would leave me asking probing questions, I wouldn't see it". Clark stared at his father open mouthed. Jonathan whispered. "Just go". There was a sound of imploding air as Clark raced off quicker than the eye could follow. Smith reacted to the noise by turning back to face the farmer. "What was that? Oh, where could your son have gone to?" He pointed to the truck. "You'll have to drive us over there in that".

Jonathan snarled. "Damn straight I will. I'm not letting you out of my sight". With that the two men hurried to the truck and set off in the direction of the column of smoke.

"What do you want?" shrieked Lana.

"Like I said", proclaimed the creature who had taken his helmet off, "information. About this planet. About this species. About the Doctor, our accursed foe". They continued to march her across the darkened field. Lana couldn't see where she was putting her feet now, and that only made it worse. She didn't know where they were taking her, and realised that in truth, they didn't know either. They were, after all, strangers to this world. But then she caught sight of a figure a few feet in front of her. He was standing side on, and as they got closer to him, she began to think she recognised him. "Okay, that's far enough", said the figure.

Now there was no doubt. Lana would recognise that voice anywhere, it belonged to one of her oldest friends. "Pete?!"

Jonathan's heart skipped a beat as he realised just how right Clark had been. As he drove the stranger to the site of the explosion, he realised that not only had it happened near Pete's house, but that the Ross home had been what had exploded. He pulled the truck to a stop as he saw his son standing in the ruins, his head hung low. He opened the door, dashed out and didn't even bother to close it. He ran to where Clark was standing. "Clark, what happened?"

Clark's throat was dry. "I think", he muttered, "I think there are human remains".

Jonathan put a hand on his forehead. "No".

Then both men were disturbed by a feint buzzing sound. Their companion had left the truck and was waving a metal device around. It was about the size of a pen and had a green light on the end. Ominously he snapped it off and faced the pair, the haunted look still on his face. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. But you're right. There are definitely the remains of one human here".

Clark spun around, rage in his voice. "Whose remains?!"

"I don't know. I can't tell with this device. But someone was killed in the explosion". He walked over to Clark, and raised both his hands. For a second, it looked like he was going to put them on the boy's temples. "Clark, I need to know. Did anything strange happen to your friend today, anything?"

"Nothing. Except that he got an electric shock off one of the computers".

Smith looked stunned and lowered his hands. "That's it. He'd opened a space time corridor. He only needed to transmit a signal through, that would have been enough".

"Enough for what?" asked Jonathan, his patience now clearly spent.

Dr Smith bowed his head. He knew that this was probably as good a time for an explanation as any. "A creature, an evil creature from the future has sent its essence back to this time".

"And why would it do that?" asked the farmer, unconvinced.

"Because it had just been defeated and it wanted revenge upon the one who defeated it". He pointed in the direction of Clark.

The boy was shocked. "You mean, me? I fought this thing in the future?"

"Clark, you're going to fight lots of things in the future. You're going to create a legend to inspire people for generations to come. Or at least you were".

"What do you mean?"

"Something has happened. The future I followed it back from no longer exists".

"And just how did you follow it back?" snapped Jonathan.

"In the blue wooden box I was standing by earlier".

Jonathan folded his arms. "So that would be your time machine".

"Exactly, Mr Kent, I said you were my favourite hero".

Jonathan sighed and Smith turned his attention to his son. "Clark, we were fighting it together in the future. John Smith isn't my real name. My name is the Doctor, and you…" he paused, "… you are something else entirely. Something legendary. Someone who it's been my utter privilege to fight alongside".

Jonathan cut him off. "So, 'Doctor', what do we do now?"

"We find Clark's friend".

His head hurt so much he could barely focus. Since the shock in the Torch office the shouting at the back of his mind had got louder and louder. At first he thought it had been his imagination. Streams of malevolent equations and evil memories streamed through his mind. They had made hardly any sense at all, but he was sure of only one thing: Clark featured in all the memories. Not the Clark he knew. No, this was a version of Clark a good ten years older; one who had embraced his destiny and taken it upon himself to become a guardian of six billion souls.

It was only when he arrived at his home that he knew that the other presence in his head was powerful. It took control over him and he could only watch in horror at what it did. And now in the field every fibre of his being wanted to call to Lana, to scream to her to run away as fast as she could. The aliens could only kill her, but the being that had taken control of him could do so much worse.

Surprisingly as soon as Lana recognised Pete's voice, the aliens let her go. She tried to warn him even as she ran the last few feet toward him. "Pete, get out of her, go!"

As she reached him, she flung her arms around him, glad to hold on to someone she knew after her ordeal. It was when she realised that the aliens hadn't taken her back, or said anything else to her that Pete replied. "No, Lana, I'm not going anywhere".

She let go of her friend and took a step back, and gasped in terror as she saw his face. The right side of his face now had a thick sheet of dark metal running from his upper lip right to his forehead, and a blood red light shone where his right eye should have been. Through a bone dry mouth, Lana gasped one word. "Pete?"

"Not Pete, Lana", he replied, a wide grin on his face. "Pete's gone. My name's Hank Henshaw. And everything is going exactly according to plan".

In the recesses of his mind he tried to gain some dominance over the being that had infected him, but it was like he was cut off from every nerve, every neuron. All he could do was watch as the horror before him unfolded.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Panic gripped Lana's heart. Its intensity made her realise that it wasn't a common sensation anymore. She had had so many brushes with death in the last few months that what would terrify most people, she could easily take in her stride. But here she was in a field at dusk, surrounded by three aliens and her friend who seemed to have been possessed by an evil entity.

So it was that when she heard a familiar voice cry through the still air, the relief was enough to make her cry. "Lana get down!"

She needed little encouragement. No sooner had she hit the grassy earth, then she heard a hail of hand gun shots. She looked around, and saw a group of maybe six people, on the road just outside of the field. They were silhouetted against the darkening sky, but she knew who they were. The voice had belonged to Lex Luthor, and the other people must surely be his security detail.

But for all the vaunted power of the powerful hand guns, Lana's captors didn't fall to the ground. In fact, the two aliens that hadn't removed their helmets just stood there like nothing was happening, the projectiles bouncing off their armour like heavy rain off a tin roof. The alien who had removed his helmet just raised his hand to protect his face. Furtively Lana looked around to where Pete had been standing, only to see him leap right to the edge of the field where the figures stood. Grabbing one of them, he jumped back to the previous position, and deposited the man's body onto the floor beside Lana. Out of surprise, she cried the name of the man whose face she now recognised. "Lex! What's going on?!"

"Just keep down, Lana", replied the young tycoon. It was then that she realised the hail of bullets hadn't stopped. They simply carried on, just allowing for short pauses which she realised must be for reloading. Pete, or the thing that had been Pete, just seemed to stand there with a defiant smile on his face. But after a few moments he sighed, almost as if he was bored. "Okay, finish them off".

As one, the helmeted aliens turned toward their attackers and pointed what seemed to be rifles at them. Green lights flashed from them and Lana heard sounds unlike anything she had ever heard before. One by one, the silhouetted rescuers slumped to the ground, and something exploded behind them. Lana guessed it was whatever vehicle they had come in. The air was now still, and she thought that the aliens would now turn their attention to her and Lex. Instead, she was surprised to see the alien without his helmet fly into a rage at his companions. "Since when do you take orders from him?!" He pointed at Pete's figure. "I am your captain. Captain Krugg, mighty warrior in the Sontaran Empire! This is just a filthy earthling!"

Another defiant grin from Pete. "Let's just say they have a vested interest". He motioned toward the two aliens. "Gentlemen". Slowly they removed their helmets. Lana saw that their faces were identical to that of their captain, except for one detail; they now had black slabs of metal across their faces, just as her friend had. "I'm running this show, Captain", Pete said. "And now it seems I have two prizes for the price of one". He reached down to the ground and grabbed Lex and held him up towards the sky. "Lex!" cried Lana. "Pete, please, put him down!"

In some small corner of his brain, Pete's sould was on fire. He wasn't in control, but still blamed himself for what had happened to Lex's security detail. He strained to regain control of a single muscle, but found himself to be totall cut off as he addressed the man he now held in an iron grip. "Lex Luthor. A young Lex Luthor. You know, you're something really special where I come from. But here, now, you're another one of his closest friends. Not that that'll last forever, but what the hell. It'll make my revenge that much swee…"

He had been about to say "sweeter", when he paused mid-sentence. Throwning Lex to the floor, he tilted his head like he was trying to listen to something. He narrowed his human eye. "Right on cue". Faster than the eye could follow he pulled a green meteor rock from his coat. He then motioned to Lex and Lana. "Stand up. You guys'll want to see this". As they rose slowly to their feet, they became aware of a high pitched sound, and got the impression of something heading toward Pete extremely quickly. Lex's eyes narrowed. "What is that?"

A malignant grin came over Pete's face and he shook his head slightly. "You're about to find out. Boy are you about to find out". The earth before his feet suddenly flung up as the object came to a skidding stop just in front of him. "Come see". They took what they somehow knew were some extremely fateful steps forward. Their mouths hung open. "Clark?" exclaimed Lana. "How did you do that?"

But before he could answer, Pete butted in. "Didn't you guys know? Clark's an alien. Every bit as extra terrestrial as my Sontaran friends here. He's from another planet, and in earth's atmosphere, he's considerably faster than, should we say, a speeding bullet?"

It was then that Lana noticed her friend was in pain. "What's happening to him?"

"Meteor rocks weaken him".

"Why?"

"Because they're from the same planet he's from. 'Krypton' I believe it was called". With that he dropped the rock onto Clark's chest. Tears rolled down Lana's face as she stood there in shock, and Lex was just silent. Again, Pete tilted his head, like he was focusing on something else. He raised it with a gleam in his human eye. "This is great. It's just the other side of Pluto".

Lex cleared his throat. "What is?"

"The cosmic wave. A belt of radiation that'll rearrange human DNA like beads on an abacus".

"And what's this got to do with us?" demanded Lex.

The cyborg beamed. "Because it's your beads that are going to be rearranged". He looked up to the Sontaran guards. "Sightseeing's over, guys". With that they grabbed Lex and Lana from behind. Trying to maintain his composure Lex continued talking. "Forgive me for pointing out the obvious, but we're quite a way from Pluto. How are you going to get us there?"

The cyborg gave out a short laugh. He clicked his fingers and the ground began to shake. Within seconds, a huge object erupted from the ground behind him. "Hope you don't mind, Captain Krugg, but I'm taking your ship for a spin".

Clark lay there in the dark, feeling sick like his blood had been replaced with acid. As his vision blurred he saw six figures heading toward a ship, and Pete's voice saying something about doing to Clark's loved ones what Clark had done to his wife. As his consciousness ebbed away from him, he heard the roar of thrusters as the huge ship lifted off.

Lana and Lex now knew his secret, but that didn't matter anymore. He just hoped that his father would find him soon, and that the claims of this mysterious Doctor were true.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Clark had always had difficulty trying to describe to his parents what recovering from Kryptonite poisoning felt like. Since his biology was totally unique he couldn't relate at all to how humans felt, at least in a physical sense. It was only on the rare occasions when he lost his powers that he began to get some insight into this phenomenon. He explained to his father that recovering from the radiation was like quickly lying down when you feel like you're about to faint. The quick rush of blood to your head makes you almost immediately forget how you felt just instants ago. In much the same way, when the Kryptonite source is removed, his super-fast healing mechanism would kick in and leave him simply not believing that mere seconds ago he felt like his blood had been replaced by battery acid.

But that's how he was feeling now, as seconds before he was dimly aware of Jonathan's hasty arrival in the field, followed by his throwing the green rock far away with an arm that could make a professional pitcher jealous.

Even as his father helped him to his feet, he felt his strength quickly return. He then realised that the Doctor was also there, the strange device buzzing away in his hand at the huge hole in the field. Jonathan was aghast. "Clark, what happened here?"

"A ship. A huge ship".

"What it just rose from the field?"

"Lana".

"What?"

"They took Lana. And Lex".

The Doctor deactivated his buzzing device. "A Sontaran battle cruiser".

Clark's eyes widened. "Yes. That's the word they used. The aliens. They called themselves 'Sontarans'. And Pete was with them".

Jonathan put his hands on his son's shoulders. "Clark, slow down. What exactly happened here?"

Before Clark could speak, the Doctor butted in. "'Slow down'? Jonathan Kent, we can't slow down at a time like this. The Sontarans have taken Clark's friends and we're standing here in a field. We need to move like we've never moved before". As he said this, he motioned to Clark in a gesture like a priest directing his congregation to stand. Clark was confused. "What?"

The Doctor looked impatient. "Isn't now up, up and away time?"

A frown creased Clark's brow. The Doctor slapped himself on the forehead. "Sorry". He slapped himself again. "Keep forgetting, you're not even up to an eighth of a mile leaps or hurdling skyscrapers yet. And a bursting shell could still do you a lot of damage".

Jonathan folded his arms. "Well what do you suggest we do?"

The Doctor faced Clark head on with an even greater sense of urgency. "Clark. If you've ever trusted anyone, trust me now. You need to take me to the blue box, where you found me. If Lana and Pete are to have a chance of surviving, I'm the only one who can help you".

Jonathan didn't like the idea. But he knew that they had no option now but to trust the stranger. So he sighed and nodded to Clark. Immediately there was the sound of imploding air and Jonathan was standing alone in the field. He took a second to push all the worry from his mind, and then headed back to his truck. He knew he would probably be needed before the night was over. And he also knew something else; his son could take care of himself.

The Doctor cried out as the disorienting movement ended and he found himself standing outside the blue box. "Wow!" he said, readjusting his bowtie, "so that's how it feels. Clark Kent, you've just made me jealous!"

"So now what?" asked Clark.

The Doctor's mouth widened into an unearthly beam. "Now it's my turn". He raised his right hand and clicked his fingers. The right hand door of the blue box swung inward. But Clark wasn't convinced. "Doctor, that's only a box".

The smile didn't fade from the other man's face. "Right, and you're just a Kansas farm boy. Come on".

Clark followed the Doctor into the box. He couldn't believe his eyes. Instead of the claustrophobic wooden frame he'd expected he was now standing in a vast room, about the size of his barn. The walls were metallic and were dimly lit in a yellow hue. In the centre of the room, up a small flight of stairs there was a glass floor, supporting what seemed to be a set of valves, switches and computers, assembled in the dark. This is where the Doctor ran to as Clark closed the door behind him. Clark felt that the Doctor would have like to savour the moment more, but realised that they didn't have much time. As he raced toward the console he kept talking to Clark.

"Clark Kent, welcome to the TARDIS. It stands for "time and relative dimension in space", it's alive, and it's bigger on the inside". He flicked a series of switches and levers, and adjusted what looked like an antique television set, suspended on a metal bar, towards him so that he could see it. A glass column in the centre of the console rose, and the room shook gently and made a whoosing sound.

Even in the light of everything that had just happened, Clark still had questions. "How is this possible? This isn't like anything on earth".

The Doctor was still tapping buttons on the console, but he paused and flicked his head up toward Clark, who was now mounting the stairs toward the control panel. "Got a small confession to make to you, Clark. I'm no more human than you are".

"You mean you're from Krypton too?"

"No, not Krypton. Gallifrey. A world as far advanced of Krypton as your world was of earth".

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that while your ancestors were gazing up at chandeliers and thinking you'd only scratched the surface of what you can do with a crystal, mine were exploring the mysteries of dimensional transcendence and travel within the fourth dimension".

As he said this, sparks flew from the console as a small part seemed to break off. With a snake like movement that even took Clark by surprise, the Doctor's hand reached out and caught the object, which Clark immediately recognised. "It's a crystal. It looks Kryptonian. How did you get it?"

The Doctor screwed his face up. "It must have fallen into my ship. Strange". He opened a panel on the console and locked the crystal inside. But now Clark was suspicious. "What are you doing with one of those?"

The Doctor shot him an angry look. "No time to explain now". He ran over to the television device and shook it, and gave Clark a pensive look. "They seem to be heading toward Pluto. But why there?"

"When I was exposed to the Kryptonite I heard Pete mention something about a radiation belt. Could that be it?"

The Doctor flicked a switch on the television and his face turned into a mask of horror. "Oh no".

"What?!"

"He plans to do to your friends what he thinks you did to him".

"What do you mean, 'what I did to him'?"

The Doctor didn't answer, but returned to the console and started flicking more switches. Sparks flew everywhere and the lights throughout the room flickered and dimmed. It was then that Clark noticed that his companion was now punching the panels in what looked to be sheer frustration. "No, no, no! Henshaw's put a shield up, I can't materialise!"

Clark was confused. "What does that mean?"

"We're following them through space, but their ship won't let me materialise inside it!"

"We're in space?"

"Remember what the 'S' stands for. My 'S', not yours. But now it's your talents we'll need".

"What do you mean?"

"That we'll have to do this the old fashioned way". He flicked a lever and the lights went back to normal. The sparks stopped and his voice was now clearer as he went on. "Right, we're slaved in to their ship's flight plan. Where it goes, we go. I'll extend the atmosphere. You go and open the outer door, and tell me what you see. The ship should be visible now".

In a blur, Clark's image vanished from the console and reappear at the door, where he noticed there was a small hatstand. He rested his hand on the doorknob and shouted to his companion. "If we're in space, won't we be blown out?"

"I've extended the atmosphere", came the Doctor's voice from behind the console. "You'll be fine". Clark twisted the doorknob. Nothing could have prepared him for the sight that greeted him; they truly were in space. Up until now, there was a part of him, right at the back of his mind, that simply didn't believe what the Doctor had said. But now his jaw dropped as that tiny thought was extinguished. Yet that wasn't all; there framed by the TARDIS doorway was the ship that had blasted off from the Smallville field.

"We're still a few minutes from the radiation belt", came the Doctor's voice. "What can you see?"

Clark screwed up his eyes, trying to use his X-ray vision to see inside the ship. But instead of a flash of light followed by a bizarre set of glowing images, nothing changed. "It must be lead lined", he shouted back. "I can't see through it". He was about to try again, when he saw two small objects launch from the front of the ship. At first he thought they were weapons of some kind, but he realised that didn't make sense; they had been fired in the opposite direction to their pursuers. Whatever it was, he thought he should alert his companion. "Doctor! They've just fired something from the front of their ship!"

He heard some switches and turned around to see the Doctor gazing at the screen. "They've fired them in the direction of the radiation belt. They'll be there in seconds".

Not quite knowing why, Clark felt his heart sink. For an unknown reason he tried to X-ray the missiles. To his surprise, the metal covers of the distant objects seemed to melt away. He didn't know how, but he could see them even though they must have been hundreds of miles away. And he could see what was inside them.

He closed the door behind him and zipped up to the console. "Doctor, there are people in the objects! I could see through them! We have to do something!"

His companion nodded, and pulled a lever. "I've slaved our ship into their flight paths now. Hopefully we can make it before they get to the belt".

"But who's inside them?"

The Doctor closed his eyes like he was about to cry, and when he spoke it was just a whisper. "Your friends. Lana and Lex".

Once more, Clark shot over to the door and opened it. He was surprised to find himself very near one of the missiles. The TARDIS banked in closer, and he realised that the Doctor must be gently steering it. Taking a deep breath, he reached out a hand and grabbed the capsule. Pulling it to the TARDIS door, he ripped the sheet metal off it. Lex's unconscious body fell into his other hand. In one movement, he flung the capsule out into space and gently lay his friend on the floor. Looking toward the door frame, he could just make out the other capsule in the distance. "Doctor, Lana's still out there!"

Immediately the other capsule began to get closer and closer. He was about to reach out and touch it, when his companion's voice rang out. "We're getting close to the radiation belt now! You need to be quick!"

Quick? No one in the universe was as fast as him. He darted to the door and reached out his hand. But this time, as he was about to grasp it, the capsule abruptly changed direction. He began to panic. "Doctor, it keeps moving, I can't grab it!"

The other alien's reply echoed down from the console. "It must be magnetised to repel the TARDIS".

"So what can I do?!"

"The magnetiser will be on the outer shell. It probably looks like an aerial".

Clark quickly took a step backwards to examine the whole missile. Sure enough, there was a strange metal rod that looked like an aerial on the side of it. "Doctor, I can see it!"

"Then zap it with your heat vision and we'll get back to earth!"

Not really caring how the Doctor knew about yet another of his powers, he squinted his eyes for a narrow beam shot, and thought of the person he was rescuing. His heart pounded as a thin red beam shot from his eyes, and reduced the magnetiser to molten metal. Reaching out his hand, he stretched as far as he could. His unearthly strong hand dug deep impressions into the capsule like those in a bowling ball. Ripping off the front sheet, he cradled Lana in his hands. Like Lex, she was unconscious. Turning around, he used his right foot to close the TARDIS door and gently lowered her to the ground and kissed her on the forehead. An instant later, the Doctor raced down from the console.

Clark had to fight back tears. "Will she be okay?"

The Doctor hung his head, as if in shame. "I'm sorry. We were close to the radiation belt". He flicked on the metal device he had used earlier. "She's absorbed some cosmic radiation. We need to get her to a hospital". Clark knelt down beside her. After all these years, could it end like this?

The Doctor moved like a pall bearer as he turned back to the console to begin their journey home. Just as he was about to mount the steps, he heard Clark's question. "Doctor, who did this?"

The mysterious alien turned around. "Let's get back to earth. Then I'll tell you everything".


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

For the last few hours Clark had just felt numb. But it's amazing how quickly you can think when you're numb.

After returning to earth with the Doctor and getting Lana and Lex to Smallville Medical Center, he had been subject to a four hour interrogation with Sheriff Adams. Smart as a fox, he always found it next to impossible to get anything past her. But after not convincing her with a story about the radiation sickness being due to some isotope at Luthorcorp, where he and Lana were Lex's guests tonight, she surprisingly let him go. She never trusted any of his stories, but she always trusted his motives. That's what he kept telling himself as the blackened night time streets of his home town rushed past him.

Upon arriving at the Center, he found Jonathan sipping a cup of coffee in one of the small waiting rooms. "How is she?"

His father looked up at him, his fatal expression being all Clark needed to know. He looked down the corridor to see the white sheets of a hazmat team thrown up around the room where he had left the girl he had loved for so long. His heart sank; he knew they wouldn't let him see her.

It was then that he heard a familiar British accent. "It's just a precaution. You were right to tell them that you thought she had radiation sickness". He whirled around to see the Doctor standing there. He decided he wasn't going to waste any time. "Doctor, you said you were going to tell me".

Slowly the stranger nodded. "Yes. I did".

Jonathan jumped to his feet. "Think I may like to hear the explanation too".

The Doctor turned to the farmer. "Jonathan, I'm sorry, but this is just for me and Clark".

Jonathan took a step forward. "Mister, I'm Clark's father. In the past few hours his best friend's home has been destroyed, his friends have been abducted by who knows what, and the person he cares about most in the world is fighting for her life. He needs me with him".

"But he's also one of the most special people on this planet. Someone with a future before him beyond anything he, you, maybe even I can imagine. There are some things no one should know. Unless they absolutely have to. And you do trust him, don't you?"

"I trust my son more than anyone".

Taking in a sharp breath the Doctor nodded. "Then it's agreed. Clark, there's bound to be an empty field around here somewhere".

Quick as a flash, Clark's figure blurred and once again Jonathan was on his own.

An ominous wind blew through the pitch black Kansas air, rattling the corn stalks in the field that was empty except for two figures. "They'll be back, won't they?" said Clark.

The Doctor gave a grave nod. "Probably. They're probably only not back already because he's still getting accustomed to controlling the whole crew".

"Who's 'he'? Not Pete, I take it. This 'Henshaw' guy you mentioned?"

Another grim affirmative from the Doctor. "Hank Henshaw. American Airforce pilot and astronaut. Wanted to be the first man on Mars, but only today he's gone far further".

"So how come he hates me so much?"

"Because you killed his wife".

"What?!"

"Well, that's what he thinks. A few years from now, he and his wife, Terri, blast off from Cape Canaveral on their mission to the red planet. But something goes wrong. They hit a belt of cosmic radiation that mutates them".

"You mean like the one we saw today?"

"Very similar. Only the first time around, you didn't save them".

"But how could I?"

The Doctor shook his head in admiration. "Because in the future, you are someone so special. A good man with unearthly strength, able to defy gravity, fly in space, and willing to help anyone. Absolutely anyone". The Doctor noticed Clark's wide-eyed, disbelieving stare, but continued anyway. "You're someone it has been my absolute privilege to fight alongside. Anyway, when you heard that the shuttle was in trouble, you flew to them to bring them back. Unfortunately it had already begun to break apart. Henshaw ordered you to save the rest of the crew by moulding a lead casing around them. You did this in the blink of an eye, but you could only salvage enough lead to hold the crew, not the Henshaws themselves. You brought the crew safely back to earth, but by the time you returned to the shuttle, it was too late. Terri Henshaw had died from radiation poisoning from the cosmic wave".

"But why didn't Hank die too?"

"You thought he had. His body was a withered husk, but somehow he managed to transfer his consciousness to the shuttle computer. After you returned the bodies to earth, he managed to fire the retro thrusters and return to his home planet. He built a robotic body for himself and tried to kill you for letting his wife die, but you being you managed to defeat him".

"So how did he get here?"

"I was visiting you in the future with a friend when he reared his ugly head again. He'd infested the computer system in an experimental nuclear power station and threatened to blow up Metropolis if you didn't come to him. You flew the entire power station right into the stratosphere, but the explosion of the new quantum materials created a time corridor that he must have forced his consciousness through. He managed to infect one of the computers in your school, and then transferred his consciousness to your friend. The rest you know".

"No I don't. How did you get here?"

"I'm a Timelord".

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm a time traveller. My TARDIS can travel through time as well as space".

"Then why can't we go back and stop this from happening?"

"Because that would be crossing my own timeline. Time can be rewritten but if something like that happened it would be like writing over the same piece of paper with a pencil too many times. Reality would crack".

Tears of frustration began to well in Clark's eyes. "Is that the rule?"

"That's always been the rule".

"You mean the rule of the Timelords? The 'Gallifreyan Way'?"

The Doctor held Clark's shoulders. "Clark, from my point of view I've known you for years. You were an inspiration to me before I even met you, but one day you stopped my TARDIS from falling into a red giant. You were even more surprised than just now when you saw what it looked like on the inside. But we developed a friendship that became very special to me. Not just because of who you were, but because, unlike anyone else, you understood things I thought no one else did?"

"Like what?"

"Like I said, I'm a Timelord. But you understood the dangers of trying to change history. You realised that what you changed could lead to even bigger tragedies".

"And how exactly did I know that?"

"From experience. In your youth – which I suppose is now – you'd tried to do it before".

"Tell me what happened!"

The Doctor had no answer. The rustling of the plants was all that could be heard for the moment, but then the Doctor heard the noise of air filling a vacuum quickly, and knew that he was alone in the field.

When he arrived back in the waiting room, Jonathan stood up to greet him. He knew something was wrong, as his father had tears in his eyes. He threw his arms around his son. "I'm sorry, Clark. They couldn't save her".

Clark closed his eyes and held his father tightly. He felt hot tears flowing down his cheeks and it was a good minute before he looked up again. Through the haze of his own tears, he saw a familiar figure. "Lex?"

"Hi, Clark. Mind telling me what just happened?"


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"So how about you tell me what happened that day on the bridge, Clark?"

As Lex continued to stand in the waiting room defiantly, Jonathan turned from his son to confront the young millionaire. "Lex, I don't think this is the time".

Lex seemed to remain unmoved. "No, Mr Kent, I think this is just the right time".

"My son has lost a friend".

"So have I! Don't you realise what just happened to me". He turned his attention from the farmer to his son. "So how about it, Clark? Want to tell me what happened? You ripped the Porshe open and pulled me out didn't you?"

"Clark has nothing to say about this right now, Lex", said Jonathan. But at that moment, Clark wiped the tears from his eyes, took a step forward and nodded. "I saved your life, Lex. Just like I did tonight".

"So why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you tell me you were different?!"

"We didn't tell you", said Jonathan, "because we knew people would react just the way you're reacting now. And we did it to protect Clark and everyone around him".

"Like you just protected me and Lana?"

The farmer walked toward Lex and looked like he was about to explode a haymaker off his jaw. He didn't, however, and just sighed with frustration. Clark put his hand on his father's shoulder. "It's okay, dad. I'll tell him". Reluctantly Jonathan nodded and sat down. Clark continued. "Lex, I couldn't let anyone know that I was different. If people knew about me, I knew that they would try to attack me through my friends. People like you and Chloe".

"And Lana?"

Clark nodded, but Lex wasn't convinced. "Keeping secrets didn't protect you tonight, though, did it?"

"Lex, the man who attacked me tonight was from the future".

"The future? Clark, that's crazy!"

"So's this", replied Clark, picking up one of the small chairs in the waiting room. Effortlessly he ripped off its back right metal leg. Immediately, he replaced the leg onto the back of the chair, exactly where he had ripped it from. Beams of intense heat shot out of his eyes, and the leg melted back onto the chair. Clark handed the seat to Lex who tried in vain to bend the leg that had just moments before been so easily ripped off.

"We're in a different world now, Lex".

The young entrepreneur replaced the chair where his friend had taken it from. "Is that something the Doctor told you?"

Clark couldn't hide his astonishment. "You know about the Doctor?"

Lex seemed to forget his conversation with Clark about his secret. "He's a man, or a group of men, that appear throughout history. No one knows his name, or where he's from, but if you search hard enough he appears all over the place. My father apparently had an obsession with finding him just before the meteor shower hit. He seemed to drop off the grid around 1989. The last I heard there'd been a sighting in San Francisco around the millennium, but by then my dad had other things on his mind". He put his hand in his pocket and showed Clark a picture of what he now knew to be the TARDIS. "This box always seems to appear when and where he does". An ominous expression crossed his face. "And then the body count starts. That's why I called in the National Guard".

The still silence in the room was interrupted by Jonathan's voice. "They're not coming, Lex". Following the farmer's gaze, the two young men saw what looked to be a large fire on the news channel on the television in the waiting room. Only when they read the headline below did it crystallise as to what had actually happened: "National Guard Decimated by Unknown Attacker in Kansas". Jonathan clicked the remote control to turn the television off. "Looks like we're on our own".

Running. Sometimes that was all his life ever seemed to be. The Doctor could never escape the irony that, for someone who owned a spaceship that could get him from one side of the Milky Way to the other in under an hour, he did an awful lot of running. And it wasn't the first time Clark Kent had left him somewhere he had to run back from. Well, it wasn't the first time for the Doctor at any rate. His lungs were like blast furnaces and his hearts were racing when he finally reached the sign welcoming him to the little known American town of Smallville. As he ran, he breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that the Medical Centre, where he had left the TARDIS, wasn't far away. He hoped against all hope that Lana Lang was okay, but he had seen the effects of mutation on a human body enough to know he was hoping in vain. As he rounded a corner, he was flung to the ground and glass from the windows shattered on every side of him. He glanced up, already knowing what he was going to see. The Sontaran battle cruiser shot above him, dangerously low, and heading toward the same destination as him. He was too late.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

He was trying to cry, trying to be free, but he couldn't. As he watched the National Guard convoy burn like a Roman candle on the Sontaran observation deck, Pete wished with all his heart that he could feel the tender sting of tears on his cheek. But all he could feel was the bullying spirit that seemed to control his every move.

He recalled the events of the last few minutes, of what he had done to his friends. But all that emotion pent up inside him didn't even cause a muscle to twitch. He felt the ship coming to an abrupt stop as the metal hatch above him fell open. His legs betrayed him as they gently launched his body through the hatch, and he half wondered, half anticipated the new terrors he was about to inflict upon his friends.

Tensions were so high between the three men in the waiting room that it took them a few moments to notice the ground shaking. More and more vigorously the room shook, followed by the sounds of roaring engines overhead. With a mighty crash, all the windows shattered, reminding Clark of his life now.

"Come on, Kent, I know you're in there!" At first he thought only he could hear it with his super hearing, but then Lex shot him a quizzical expression. "That's Pete's voice".

Clark clenched his fists. His father noticed an almost imperceptible tightening of his jaw. He put his hand on his son's shoulder, but knew no force on earth could stop him now.

"Henshaw!"

Lex and Jonathan fell to the ground stunned in the wake of a sonic boom.

Street after street fell by as he raced toward the ship, the ringing glass structure of the world now inaudible above the sound of blood pumping in his ears. As the ship seemed to grow suddenly bigger like Mars in his telescope, one thought shot through his mind. "Is this what hate feels like?"

No longer trying to pull his punch, Clark zoomed into the figure of his friend. The momentum carried Pete's body through the air, and only the hull of the massive Sontaran ship stopped him. He kneeled on the floor, stunned, yet impossibly resistant to Clark's nigh on irresistible onslaught.

It was only then that the anger began to subside and he became aware of the small armoured figures surrounding him. As one they pointed their weapons at him and fired.

The sudden shock knocked him to the floor. He had been hit by what appeared to be beams of light. Yet despite their unfamiliarity, the feeling reminded him of something. Bullets, he thought. This is how bullets used to feel.

But that was two years ago. Since then his body had absorbed more sunlight, and what used to cause him pain now only tickled. He thought back to how sometimes the wounds left by bullets would take hours to heal, and a grim smile came to his lips. "I coped with bullets". Slowly he stood up and casually regarded his attackers as the beams continued to sting his skin. Then in less than a second, he ran around the Sontarans, scattering them like ten pins into the muddy floor and snatching all their weapons. These he crushed into a large ugly metal ball which he dropped to the ground. At the end of the day, these were only distractions. His true enemy was struggling to stand at the ship. With one last burst of speed, he was upon him. "It's over, Henshaw. Let Pete go".

His enemy turned defiantly to face him. "Oh, no, you don't get off that easy".

Clark tried to assume his most menacing posture. "You can't win now. I've beaten your soldiers. Their weapons don't harm me like meteor rocks do".

Henshaw shot him a twisted grin through Pete's lips. "True, but I couldn't use them now. Too risky".

"Why?"

"Because since leaving the planet, I've been reconfiguring your friend's DNA to Kryptonian specifications".

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, let's put it this way: you've always wanted to fly, Kent. Now's your chance".

Faster than even Clark could follow, Henshaw shot toward him. He saw a bright flash of red behind his eyes, and felt a nigh on infinite amount of pain, and suddenly realised that he was airborne, arcing over his hometown. Now he let fear into his heart; as strong as he was, his fear of heights left him terrified of the impact he would make upon striking the ground.

Smallville Medical Center was abuzz with panic by the time the Doctor arrived. Hurrying past crowds of people, it took him under a minute to reach the waiting room. Above the panicked conversation, he managed to hail the person he caught sight of just about to leave. "Mr Kent! Jonathan!"

The farmer turned and walked toward him. The Timelord took a piece of paper from his coat and handed it to Jonathan. "You need to find Clark and call this number". Jonathan nodded and took the paper. The Doctor expected him to say something, but it turned out to be another voice that addressed him. "So you're the Doctor?"

Even here and now there was no mistaking it. He would recognise that voice in the middle of a hurricane. Turing to one side, he faced the person the voice came from. A young Lex Luthor. The Doctor narrowed his eyes. However he was going to solve this problem he was determined that this man would have no part in it. So he turned back to the person he trusted. "Jonathan, you need to go now. An enemy from the future has taken control of Pete's body. He can recalibrate his DNA into Kryptonian. You have to get to Clark fast, he won't be able to beat Henshaw!"

But Lex Luthor was persistent. "And what can I do?"

"You? You can find a dark hole somewhere, climb in it and stay there for the rest of your miserable existance. Believe me, you'll be doing humanity a huge favour".

The young CEO ignored the last comment. "Clark said this guy's from the future. So, Doctor, do you have a time machine".

The Timelord allowed a short instant of pride to break out on his face. "Yes".

"Then why don't you go back and stop all this from happening before it began?!"

Now he was irritated. "Because I can't. The fabric of the universe is very delicate, you wouldn't understand".

Lex grabbed the Doctor's sleeve. "No it's you who doesn't understand. My best friend has lost someone he cares about today. I know how that feels. If you have any single shred of humanity in you, get to your damn machine and screw the laws of time!"

Angrily he pulled away from the millionaire's grip. "I've spent more than a millennium fighting monsters. I'm not about to let one of them lecture me in morality".

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

"Let's put it this way. In two hundred years, where your mansion now stands, there's a monument with 1235 names on it. Names of the people you're known to have killed. But you've probably killed four times that number".

Lex shook off his shock at the Doctor's last comment instantly, only because he had to. "Even if that's true, you're judging me on things I haven't done yet".

"I'm a time traveller. Haven't done yet's relative". Leaving the other man behind, he turned to Jonathan. "You still here? You need to go, now!"

"What are you going to do?"

"I need to free Pete from Henshaw's control. He's still in there, fighting, but he won't be able to break free alone. I need to drive Henshaw into emotional overload to weaken him and I have a plan". With that, he ran down the corridor, leaving Lex in his wake. Jonathan negotiated the corridors in the other direction, to the lot where his truck was waiting. Even above the commotion, he seemed to hear a strange whooshing sound emanating from the hospital. He chalked it up to just one more mystery in a topsy turvy world.

He must have blacked out. That was the only explanation. Clark lay in a deep crater in another field. As his vision blurred into focus, he was aware of Pete floating above him. As he let the sounds of the world in again, he realised the thing that was his friend was talking.

"You know, Kent, there's one thing I don't get. How the hell did it take you so long to learn to fly? It took me minutes. Even Billy Batson managed it quicker than you. But here you are, eighteen years old, and still scared of heights!"

He didn't answer. He wanted to make it look even worse than it felt to bide the time. As he let out a soft groan, he realised that there were some new metal appendages to his friend's body. Both of his arms now shone with a chrome coating. Henshaw continued to taunt.

"You know in the future, they call you 'Superman'. If only they knew. You're not super all the time. You certainly weren't super enough for Terri".

"Terri?"

"Ah, he's awake!" He flew to the center of the crater and put his hand on Clark's neck. "You know, whoever said revenge was sweet had no idea". As he felt the metal hand tighten, he knew it was now or never. With his last vestiges of strength, he tore himself free from his foe's grip. As he did, the metal from his arm scattered all over the crater. What he saw horrified him. Disassembling the arm just left a stump, with wires protruding and sparks flying from just below Pete's elbow: the lower part of his friends arm was gone. Henshaw seemed to read his mind. "Don't look to surprised, Kent. After all, omelettes and eggs. Wait'll you see what my other one does".

Like a serpent, his remaining arm coiled and writhed. Only too late did he realise that it looked a little like a gun. A beam shot forward, and Clark was knocked upward out of the crater. He fell to the floor, too weak to stand. Henshaw leaped out and stood where Clark lay. "I'll give you this, kid, you've got plenty of spirit. But I guess there were days when even Superman wasn't Superman". He looked down toward the floor and saw a plank of wood, about six feel long. A malevolent smile crossed his lips as he lifted the plank and stuck its bottom end into the ground like a flag pole. Bending down he ripped what was left of Clark's red jacket from his body and put it onto the summit of the pole. As it blew in the calm wind, he stood there watching it, savouring the moment, as if it held some significance. Then he pointed his remaining arm back at Clark. "Time to die, Kent".


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Now nothing would keep Henshaw from his vengeance on his hated foe. Nothing in the world. He took a deep breath to savour the moment as he prepared to blast Clark Kent from the pages of the history books. Pete was sickened beyond comprehension by what Henshaw planned to do, but felt like he was encased in tempered steel; he was totally paralysed, unable to move and helpless to stop the tragedy playing out in front of him.

Henshaw's prey lay their motionless, dipping in and out of consciousness. Good, he thought. He's awake.

He levelled the metallic gun at the boy's head and then suddenly stopped. Something wasn't right: it took him a moment to realise what was wrong. A bullet had just struck his head. Whirling around, he saw Jonathan Kent behind his truck, aiming a shotgun. "Clark!" cried the farmer. "Get out of the way!"

Henshaw shot him a twisted grin as the boy remained motionless. "He's not going anywhere, Mr Kent. But you are".

Pete felt a surge of adrenaline as a burning sensation flashed through the back of his remaining eye. For a split second, time was frozen as the man he looked upon the man he regarded as a second father in what were surely the final moments of his life. Then in an eruption of motion that shocked even Pete, Jonathan disappeared from view as the truck exploded.

As Henshaw smiled, Pete couldn't help but feel he was addressing him as he spoke. "Okay, that's the first Kent I've killed today. Now for the second".

But before even he could move, he felt another shot hit him square in the forehead. Jonathan's figure emerged from behind the blazing truck.

For a split second, Pete felt as though the steel casing around him slipped away. Henshaw's guard was down, and he was sure he could now move his body. Ignoring the intense pain and thinking that flying was the quickest way to leave his friends behind, he flexed the muscles of his legs. He'd been right; he shot into the air, far faster than the bullets from Mr Kent's gun. The fields below him began to shrink to nothingness as the air grew cold around him. Misty clouds parted before him as he raced toward the stratosphere.

But then a searing pain that felt like a gallon of battery acid swilling around his brain took hold of him. He sensed the malevolent presence of his foe wresting to take control.

As he screamed the dark clouds parted and the sky itself shook. But all too quickly he felt the cold steel close around him again and the paralysis return. Henshaw addressed him triumphantly. "Nice try, Ross. Kent chooses his friends well. But I'm in control now, and I have people to kill".

His body dropped to the ground like a bomb, making the air whistle as he fell, and striking the crater in the field with such force that the rush of air extinguished the burning truck in an instant. But something was wrong: Clark was no longer there.

The air appeared to become luminous for Pete as Henshaw x-rayed the fields. There was no sign of the farmboy. But as he probed his surroundings in bird-like movements, the image of another man soon appeared in view. This time he wasn't shocked at all as he heard the sound and the shell rebounded off his head.

His vision returned to normal as he sped like lightening toward the gunner and gripped him with his irresistible fleshy hand. "Jonathan Kent. You know, you're beginning to annoy me. And that's just earned you an agonising death". As he began to squeeze, Pete heard a whistle coming towards him. It would be upon them in seconds now. He knew exactly what it was, and hoped, just hoped, that it would arrive before…

In one deft movement, Henshaw threw Jonathan to the ground, stunning him, and grabbed Clark's outstretched fist, stopping him dead. He shook his head. "Kent. Not too much sunlight around here, right now. Don't you know that when you have the crap knocked out of you, before you go back into a fight, you need to recharge?!" As he said this, he kicked Clark in the stomach. The farmboy flew backwards across the field. Pete thought he would go on for miles, but then something began to appear in his path. It was blue, and glowed, and looked like some kind of phone box. As Clark struck it the ground shook beneath them, but still the box stood firm. Clark collapsed into unconsciousness against the panels as the door opened.

Henshaw folded Pete's arms and greeted the man who walked out. "Doctor. That's some box you have there".

The Timelord thinned his eyes and the upper part of his head was eclipsed in shadow. "Oh assembled hoards, Genghis Khan and all that". He folded his arms defiantly. "Pete, you okay in there?"

"He can't do anything, you stupid old man. He can't move a muscle unless I let him. And I'm just not going to let him".

"But he can hear me, can't you, Pete? And see me. You know exactly what's going on".

"And can't do a thing about it".

"Shut up, Henshaw, I'm not talking to you". He straightened his bowtie. "Now Pete. You need to rip that plate from the front of your head". He screwed his face up. "And, I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, but it's going to hurt".

His foe snorted. "What the hell are you talking to him for. He's only a passenger now". An evil smile came to his lips. "Anyway, speaking of passengers. Don't you normally travel with companions, Doctor".

The Timelord looked on sadly. "Funny you should say that".

Neither Henshaw nor Pete had noticed that the door of the blue box had never closed. And now through the door stepped a young man. He gingerly put his feet into the muddy field. Pete didn't know him, but the controlling force knew him only too well, even though he looked to wrong way around. "What's going on?" said the young man.

Henshaw ignored his past self. "Oh, that's cute, Doctor. Real cute. Bringing me face to face with myself. But if you think it's gonna make one damn bit of difference, you're mistaken. I can't believe Superman ever went to you for help".

The bemused man's eyes narrowed, as he slowly moved his right arm forward from the box. He wasn't alone. Holding his hand was the image of a beautiful young woman. His heart began to thud as a sickly feeling crawled its way across his chest. "Terri?"

The Doctor didn't lose an instant. "Now, Pete, now!"

The steel around his spirit melted away as he ripped at the piece of metal on his face. With surprising ease, he tore it straight off. He saw an explosion of bright light as the pain returned and wracked his whole body. As he fell to the floor and the mud splashed all over him, he felt the malevolent spirit of Henshaw scream as it left his body and plunged down an infinite abyss outside of his mind.

He could feel his body, but he couldn't move it. He was only dimly aware of his surroundings, and of the quick, splashing steps of the Doctor as he came towards him. The other man took a cylindrical device from his coat, and it made a buzzing noise as he waved it over Pete's form. He bent down and touched Pete's forehead. It took a minute to realise that the tears on his cheeks were not his own. The Doctor was weeping.

In a tremendous effort, he spoke through a cracked voice. "How did I do?"

The Doctor's voice was broken. "Great, Pete. You did great". He tried his best to smile, but the kind, sad face of the Doctor was the last thing he ever saw.

The Timelord stood up as he heard some steps behind him. Turning around, he beheld Jonathan. The farmer shook his head as he saw the Doctor's tears. "No. Please, no".

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry".

The Doctor may have stood there for an eternity, but Jonathan, ever the practical man, knew that his grief would have to wait, as other matters remained pressing. "Clark!" The two men splashed over to the unconscious boy lying against the TARDIS. The sonic screwdriver started to buzz again. Jonathan's patience was at an end. "Doctor!"

Frantically the Timelord shook his head. "We're losing him. Henshaw beat him to a pulp, his organs are shutting down".

Jonathan grabbed the Doctor's coat. "Isn't there anything you can do?!"

"Sunlight. He needs sunlight". He began to calm down a little as he looked up to the sky. "More than a cool Kansas night can provide". He beamed at Jonathan, now totally calm. "But I know just the place. Help me get him into the box". Dutifully Jonathan took his son's legs as the Doctor carried him over the threshold. "Now wait here, Jonathan", exclaimed the Doctor. "You're son will be fine".

He was about to close the door behind him, when a quiet voice was heard. "Sir?"

The Doctor span around to see Henshaw's younger self.

"Doctor. What should we do now", asked the young man.

His face screwed up in rage, yet he tried to speak calmly. "'What should you do now?' You know, you may not understand it yet, but in the last few hours, you've put some of the best, least-deserving people I know, through all a manner of hell on earth. You've allowed revenge to consume your soul so much that, when you had the chance, instead of going back to stop your own personal tragedies, you've decided to strike at the people who tried to help you. You disgust me".

"What does that mean?"

"It means, basically, run!"

As he uttered his last word, his face turned red. The young man somehow knew not to argue, and do what the Doctor said. He felt sick to his stomach as he turned and ran. Not knowing what do, Terri thought for a moment, and ran after him into the Kansas night.

Still shaking with rage, the Doctor had to be shaken out of his melancholy by Jonathan. "Doctor, hurry!"

He nodded in agreement as he went back into the TARDIS and closed the door behind him.

The blue box glowed as the air around Jonathan blew, and a loud mechanical groaning sound could be heard for miles around.

Then the box vanished from view, leaving Jonathan alone in the field, who had finally realised that he could trust this stranger with his son's life.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

It took him a minute to realise it, but what Clark was staring into turned out to be the sun. He was lying down on sand which stretched out in every direction.

"The Sahara Desert", said a familiar voice. "One of the hottest places on earth. Perfect for recharging a Kryptonian's sun-sucking cells". Sitting up he saw the Doctor standing over him, with the miraculous blue box in the background. The Doctor went on. "You gave us quite a scare there, Mr Kent. But you should be okay now".

But Clark had other things on his mind. "Lana? Pete? They're dead, aren't they?" he choked out through tears. The Doctor took in a sharp breath. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. You're one of the best people I've ever known. You didn't deserve any of this. I followed Henshaw's signal through time, hoping to get to him before anyone died". He let out a long sigh. "And I failed".

Clark stood up to his full height. "You tried. It's okay".

The Doctor growled. "No, it's not okay! I've saved so many lives in my time, why couldn't I save your friends?!"

Like his father, Clark knew all too well there would be time to grieve later. But now he had a decision to make. "Then it's settled".

The Doctor was puzzled. "What is?"

"This. My future".

"How do you mean?"

"In the last twenty-four hours I've learnt what I later become. Some great hero".

The Timelord nodded. "Yes, you do. So?"

"I can't".

"What do you mean, you 'can't'?"

Now he was fighting back tears. "That if Lana and Pete's lives are the price, what I become isn't worth it. I can't let people know about me, whatever the cost".

"But you're capable of so much good! You save lives, you're an inspiration to everyone! You're a hero!"

"Not anymore, Doctor. Now you need to be the hero".

The Doctor reached into his pocket and took out the remains of his phone. "Level 12 paradox. World without a Superman".

Clark shook his head, not able to prevent the tears flowing from his eyes. "Sorry, Doctor. That's the way it has to be".

The Doctor was about to reply when a great shadow blocked the sun and he silently cursed himself for forgetting all about the Sontarans. There was a flash of light in front of them, and there stood Captain Krug, flanked by two soldiers.

The Doctor was no longer in a fighting mood. "Don't you have anything better to do?"

"You are our sworn enemy, Doctor", barked Krug. "You marooned us on this backward world".

"Well, you can't exactly blame me. You were attacking a peaceful space liner, weren't you?"

"That is irrelevant! You must atone for your deeds!"

"Oh, must I? Aren't you forgetting something?"

Confusion began to line Krug's face. "I do not understand".

The Doctor seemed to stand to attention. "Article 529 of the Shadow Proclamation. I've freed your minds from the control of a hostile influence. You must grant me whatever boon I desire. And I order you to leave this planet and never return!"

Krug looked even more bewildered. His eyes darted around in their sockets, like a schoolboy who had just been asked an unanswerable question. He then stamped one foot on the floor and looked straight toward the Timelord. "Then we will take our leave now. But mark my words, when next we meet, it will be as bitter enemies, and I will carry your entrails on the end of my pike".

The Doctor couldn't be bothered telling him he didn't have a pike. In a flash of blue light, the aliens disappeared, and the immense ship blocking the sun's like drifted into the heavens, its shadow growing ever smaller on the endless sand floor.

"That's a relief", said Clark. "I really don't want a fight at the moment".

The Doctor nodded. "It's certainly a relief".

"How do you mean?"

"There is no article 529".


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

From the top of his barn he watched the sun break through the clouds as if it were the dawn of any other day. But it wasn't. And it never would be again.

Clark almost shivered. It wasn't the cold, that couldn't do it to him anymore. It was the knowledge that nothing would ever be the same again. He started at the sound of someone behind him, and wasn't surprised when the Doctor came into view. For a long moment the two men stood in silence. Then the Doctor ruined it all.

"Clark, I'm sorry, so sorry. But you have to reconsider what you said".

"How can I?!" Clark choked. "I've just lost my two best friends. Lex almost died, my dad almost died. And I've never been closer to death myself".

The Doctor took a long breath in. "But you have to think of the future".

"That's exactly what I am thinking of! Don't you see? If I become this 'great hero', and if time travel's possible, there could be people I haven't even heard of, people who haven't even been born yet, who one day come back to this time to try and kill me. And even if they do who's going to be next? Lex? Chloe? My parents? Doctor, I know what you're saying, and I'm not going to give up helping people. I'm just going to do it in secret".

The Doctor was defiant. "There's only a certain amount you can do in secret. Take it from one who knows. And besides: the world you inspire". He took a moment to think and the hint of an awe-struck grin crossed his face. "Not just in your time, but in generations to come. Great heroes, from your bloodline, upholding the good in galaxies so distant their birth light hasn't even reached the earth yet. Clark, please, don't sacrifice that".

"I have to. I can't become the man you later know me to be. This hero, this icon. That'll have to be you, Doctor. You and your descendants".

"That isn't me. I'm not the good man you are, Clark. I have secrets. Big secrets, small secrets, secrets that must remain hidden at all costs. Yes, you're faster than a bullet and stronger than a locomotive, but of all the things you can do that I can't, inspiring people is the most amazing". He paused for breath. "Besides. I don't have any descendants".

"How do you know that?"

"Time traveller".

"So you mean throughout the rest of time you have no relatives?"

"No. Well, maybe one".

"And where's this one?"

"She's a long way from here, and is far too sensible to have children". He approached the young Kryptonian and held his shoulders. "Please, Clark, I'm begging you. Don't let the future die".

Before he ever knew if his words hit home the Timelord started and leapt a good foot back.

Clark didn't understand. "Doctor, what is it?"

He reached for the metal device in his coat. "Not sure. I could have sworn I just felt someone put their hand into my pocket. I'll know soon enough". But before he could activate his device, both men heard a soft footstep behind them. Even though half his figure was hidden in shadow, there could be no mistaking who it was.

Clark spoke in a whisper. "Lex".

The Doctor was not so subtle. "Oh, it's you. Kansas' great benefactor".

"Clark, Doctor". He walked over to his old friend. "Clark, can we talk".

"Don't listen to him, Clark", began the Doctor, "he has a Midas tongue and a mean back stab".

Lex totally ignored the last comment. "Clark, I've been up all night. Thinking. I know this is hardly the best time, but it's like my eyes have been opened…" he never finished his sentence.

"Oh, your eyes have always been opened", began the Doctor. "You make your living by closing everyone else's and robbing them while their backs are turned. Clark, you cannot trust this man".

But Clark wasn't so willing to give up on an old friendship. "Just five minutes, Doctor. Give him that".

The Timelord reluctantly turned away and the hard clunks of his footsteps resounded down the wooden staircase. Lex took in a deep breath, knowing that this may be more important than any of the speeches he had ever made to the Luthorcorp board. "Clark, I'm still struggling to come to terms with what happened yesterday. Pete. Lana". His voice began to trail off but he picked up again. "But I've realised something about you. About why you hide your gifts. My reaction. It's a perfect example of why you were right to do it. But if one good thing can come out of all this, you may never need to hide again".

Even after the anguish of the last twenty-four hours, Clark was taken aback. "What do you mean, Lex?"

"Clark, you're a good man. I saw you risk your life last night to protect your friends. Protecting people, saving lives. It's what you do best, Clark. And I wouldn't be much of a man, I wouldn't be a man at all, if I didn't put every cent I have into helping my friend do just that".

"And how will you do that?"

"From now on, I'm going to put all my resources into researching how we can best serve the people of this planet. How we can build a better future. We were put on this earth for a reason, Clark. We can join forces, become the world's finest team. Make war and poverty a thing of the past". He held out his hand to the farmboy. "This could be the most important partnership of our time". Clark moved his hand toward the young tycoon's but then stopped. "But the Doctor. What he said. How do I know I can trust you?"

"Because my heart's changed, Clark. If you can hear it beating, you'll know I'm telling the truth". Clark closed his eyes and concentrated. Over the past few years, as each new sense had developed, Clark had learnt just how predictable people were. Certain signs, imperceptible to all but him followed certain emotional states just like bacon follows eggs. As he listened, his friend's heartbeat was totally regular. None of the telltale signs were present. Lex was telling the truth. At least he thought he was.

Maybe it was precisely this, or maybe it was the fact that he was so worn down emotionally. Whatever it was, Clark's hand moved out almost involuntarily and shook Lex's. A grim smile came over Lex's face. "You won't regret this, Clark. And neither will the world".

The two men were interupted by a sudden ringing tone. They looked around and saw the Doctor standing a few feet away from them. But before Clark had the chance to rebuke his mysterious new acquaintance, the Timelord thrust his hand into his coat pocked and pulled out a ringing phone. He held it up like a diseased rat in front of his face and muttered. "That's impossible. It can't be!"

"What's impossible?" asked Clark.

"This phone. It exploded last night. You were there, remember?"

Clark thought back to the previous evening. "You're right. You said something about a 'level 12 paradox'?"

The Doctor nodded as Lex was clearly growing irritated. "Aren't you going to answer that?"

Casting his usual animosity aside in favour of his total bewilderment, he answered the phone and pressed it to his ear. "Hello? Who's there. Pond?!"

Clark recognised this name as the person the Doctor had been addressing the night before. Tuning his superhearing to the phone, the voice of a young Scottish girl could easily be heard.

"Doctor? They've done it?"

"Who's done it?" answered the Doctor. "And what have they done?"

"Clark Kent and Lex Luthor, moron. And they've saved the planet".

"'Clark Kent and Lex Luthor'? 'Clark Kent _and _Lex Luthor'?"

"Well it's hardly likely to be the sugarplum fairy, is it? Look, they've saved Metropolis again. I don't know what happened, but the maniac who tried to blow up the power plant has gone. They've done it again. 'The Brains and the Brawn'. Or as you like to call them 'Krypton and Cueball'".

The Doctor was quietly bewildered. "So everyone's safe?"

"Well those scientists and researchers at the plant died, but, yeah. The world's still spinning. Calls for a celebration, don't you think?"

"Call you back, Pond". With the press of a button the Doctor disconnected his call. His look of astonishment was gradually replaced with a wild grin. When he finally spoke, it even made Clark jump. "Amazing. You really are amazing!"

Clark still had questions. "What's happened, Doctor?"  
"Time. It's reasserted itself. And you, both of you. You're the ones that fixed it".

"And how exactly did we manage that?" asked Lex.

"Your idea. The agreement you just made. You promised you would do everything you could to help people. Pool your resources. Lex's brains and money, and Clark's strength. You've just changed the destiny of the entire planet". He beamed ever wider. "And for the better, I think. The joining together of two houses. The House of El and the House of Luthor. You could carve out a legacy that would…" He broke off in mid sentence. "I have to see this!"

He turned and ran downstairs, to the lower level of the barn where he had left the TARDIS. The other two men dutifully followed to find him fumbling through his pockets. "Where's the key? Where is the TARDIS key?"

"Doctor, what's wrong?" asked Clark.

"The TARDIS key's been taken from my pocket. It wasn't one of you was it?"

"No", replied Clark. Even so, the young Kryptonian put his hand into his coat pocket, almost as a reflex action. He felt something metallic, and withdrew a golden key. The Doctor stopped searching. "So it was you. Funny, you've never lied to me before".

Clark was adamant. "Doctor, I didn't take this key".

"Then how could it have found its way into your jacket?"

"I don't know, but at the moment, I really don't care".

"What do you mean?"

"Doctor, Lana and Pete are still dead. You say that we create this great future, but at what cost?"

The Doctor was just as resolute. "Clark, the things you two could do together are amazing, far more than I could ever hope to accomplish".

"But it's an alternate future you haven't been to yet. How can you know it's better?"

"Clark, I just know".

"Then answer me this, Doctor: I was listening in on your conversation on the phone. If we're so great together, why couldn't we save the researchers and the scientists at the power plant?"

"Look, callous as it sounds, against all the lives you could save, that's just a minor detail". "A 'minor detail'? So how many more 'minor details' are there? Tell me you know for certain, Doctor".

There was a moment's silence. All the Doctor could do was shake his head. Clark made a step towards the TARDIS. "But you can't…" the Doctor began.

"Can't what?"

"Alter time. I've met you in the future, Clark, I know the man you become. And you know better than anyone, you can't alter time".

"I guess that's just it, Doctor. I'm not that man yet".

There was a flurry of motion as Clark moved with breathtaking speed, inserting the key into the TARDIS lock, entering the timeship, and closing the door behind him. He heard the Doctor's muffled persuasions from behind the door, but managed to ignore them as he ran to the console. Remembering where the Doctor had put the crystal the night before, he forced open the small cupboard. Sure enough, there was a Kryptonian memory crystal there, which reacted to Clark immediately. Beams of light emanated upwards from it until they formed a white glowing face upon the glass cylinder. Clark thought how eerily familiar the face was. And then it spoke to him.

"Clark. You don't know me yet. I'm Kal-El. I'm you. By now, if you're seeing this, some terrible disaster must have happened. By that reckoning I may not even exist in the future. The knowledge of all matters of the Gallifreyans as known by Krypton I have given you in the crystal you now hold, which I concealed in the Doctor's ship. These are important matters to be sure, but still matters of mere fact. There are questions to be asked, and it is time for you to do so. Here in this TARDIS, we'll try to find the answers together. So, Clark Kent, speak".

"I want to go back. Twenty-four hours. I want to save Lana and Pete. Can you do it?"

"I can't pilot this ship", answered the image. "But this crystal is composed of crystalline nanites. Imbued with their knowledge of all things Gallifreyan, they may be able to pilot the ship".

"What do I do?"

"Break the crystal over the console. That will free the nanites. They should have recognised your command and will try to obey it". As he dutifully did what his future self told him to, he heard a pounding at the door, followed by the Doctor's voice. "Clark! Don't do this! You can't change the past, you can't…!"

The sound of the engines drowned out the voice of their owner as the glass structure rose and fell in the center of the console.

After what seemed an eternity, the noise died down. Clark walked over to the entrance, and slowly nudged the door open, terrified of what he was going to find.

The TARDIS had materialised outside Smallville Medical Center. He looked around for an indication of the date, but realised he didn't have to: the Center windows were all intact. A quick glance at a clock showed it to be 8.26 am. Nearly time for school.

Back in the barn, the Doctor's face was a mask of horror as his ship vanished from view. As the last echoes ceased, he immediately turned to Lex. "So I suppose it was you that took the key from my pocket?"

"Excuse me?"

"The TARDIS key. It switched positions from my jacket to Clark's. And picking pockets is just the kind of sneaky stunt I'd expect from you. Admittedly, you're not normally so petty, but you're still quite young". He noticed at that point that Lex wasn't looking at him, but at some point behind him. He whirled around to see a young girl, perhaps in her early twenties, with long brown hair behind him. She was wearing a pair of black jeans, a brown jacket, and a thick-rimmed pair of glasses. When she spoke, it was with a British accent. "He didn't take the key, Doctor. I did".

Forgetting Lex for a moment, the Doctor took a step toward the girl. "And just who are you? Wait, you seem familiar. Do I know you?"

The girl took a step back. "No. At least, not yet".

"Your accent. So you're English?"

The girl smiled. "Yes. I think so".

"You're trying to sound neutral but you can't stop that Lancashire twang seeping through. And what's with the glasses?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I'm no expert, but even from here I can see that those lenses have no refractive properties whatsoever".

"So?"

"Well, you're clearly wearing them as a disguise. Just not a very good one".

She grinned, knowingly. "I don't know, it seems to work quite well in this part of the world".

The Doctor walked right up to her and looked directly into her eyes. "So I'll ask once again: who are you and why did you steal my key?"

Now she snapped back to seriousness. "To save you. It's what I do".

The Timelord was shocked. He took a step back. "'Save me'? Save me from what?"

"Well most of the time it's from danger. But this time it's from something else".

"What?"

"Guilt".

"Who are you?"

"Doctor, you're a good man, but you have enough guilt already. I can't let you blame yourself for putting another good man through hell. Since you've arrived here you've done nothing wrong. But I know you'll never believe that".

The Doctor quickly looked back at Lex. "But what about Clark. What if he creates another paradox".

The girl could only smile. "Oh, don't worry, Doctor. I've got a friend who won't let that happen".


End file.
